Ignore the fact he also made movies

June 8, 2009 4:32 PM

Bean.

Episode 01 - Mr. Bean (1 2 3 4) {exam, beach, church}
Episode 02 - The Return of Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {busking, department store, restaurant, Queen Elizabeth II}
Episode 03 - The Curse of Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {swimming pool, parking garage, park lunch, intersection, movie}
Episode 04 - Mr. Bean Goes to Town (1 2 3) {new TV, camera, shoe, picture, magic show, disco}
Episode 05 - The Trouble With Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {oversleep, dentist, boat, picnic}
Episode 06 - Mr. Bean Rides Again (1 2 3) {bus stop, post office, packing, train, airplane}
Episode 07 - Merry Christmas Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {department store, girlfriend, engagement, tree, turkey}
Episode 08 - Mr. Bean in Room 426 (1 2 3) {hotel, staircase, sleeplessness}
Episode 09 - Mind the Baby Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {fair, baby, stroller}
Episode 10 - Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {New Year, sales, drive, apartment redesign}
Episode 11 - Back to School Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {open school, art, chemistry}
Episode 12 - Tee Off Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {launderette, golf}
Episode 13 - Goodnight Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {hospital, guard, sleep}
Episode 14 - Hair by Mr. Bean (1 2 3) {barber, games, dog show, railway station}
Bonus: Mr. Bean's Wedding, Mr. Bean on a Blind Date, Torvill and Mr. Bean, Mr. Bean's Red Nose Day, Mr. Bean at the Library

posted by Christ, what an asshole (36 comments total)

Let's think about this.
posted by TwelveTwo at 4:35 PM on June 8, 2009 [3 favorites]

Rowan Atkinson Live is hilarious. I love Fatal Beatings, Pink Tights, and Invisible Man are highlights for me. Warning: unlike Mr. Bean, it is a bit blue. Ok, really blue.
posted by ALongDecember at 4:38 PM on June 8, 2009 [3 favorites]

Quite a lot to overthink, there.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:45 PM on June 8, 2009 [5 favorites]

Thanks for sharing those! I haven't seen these in ages, and there's a couple I'd not seen at all... Some of my favorite physical comedy (and definitely a guilty pleasure!)
posted by newfers at 4:54 PM on June 8, 2009

Y'know... please be careful with the "." ... I came into this thread thinking something far worse than what was indicated...
posted by jkaczor at 4:55 PM on June 8, 2009 [4 favorites]

I always enjoyed Mr. Bean, the terrible movies notwithstanding, but let's face facts; Rowan Atkinson's comedy career peaked with Blackadder (series 2 and 3 most of all) and he's never really been able to top that since. I challenge you to prove me wrong.

Thanks for the post.
posted by Effigy2000 at 5:05 PM on June 8, 2009 [3 favorites]

Mr. Bean is admirable because it translates to other countries so effortlessly - it is genuinely international humour. Watched a documentary on it a while back which pointed out the strong similarities with Monsieur Hulot, who also represents international comedy. Blackadder (like Fawlty Towers) is a sophisticated farce, and doesn't translate so well.

Incidentally, Wikipedia reveals what's being sung in Latin in the Mr. Bean episodes:

Ecce homo qui est faba – "Behold the man who is a bean" (sung at beginning)
Finis partis primae – "End of part one" (sung before the advertisement break)
Pars secunda – "Part two" (sung after the advertisement break)
Vale homo qui est faba – "Farewell, man who is a bean" (sung at end)
posted by Paragon at 5:26 PM on June 8, 2009 [8 favorites]

Mr. Bean makes me so uncomfortable. I'm the kind of person who can't stand watching someone embarrass themselves (it makes me feel embarrassed, and watching Mr. Bean is just about the worst of the worst in that regard. Thankfully, I have rarely had to watch Mr. Bean.

One time, however, I was on a transatlantic flight, before the advent of those back-of-seat TV-screen thingers. The "entertainment" program was put up on giant screens at the front and middle of the cabin. I was immediately in front of the screen, smack dab in the middle of the row. There was no way to avoid it. From just after takeoff until just before landing, I was forced to watch this man make a complete and utter fool of himself, over and over again (a scene where he's naked at the indoor pool nearly made me hyperventilate). It was truly one of the most awful experiences I have ever had. I'm feeling anxious just thinking about it.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:47 PM on June 8, 2009 [13 favorites]

Let's think about this.

Only if you're doing the dishes, honey.
posted by WolfDaddy at 6:10 PM on June 8, 2009

I have the boxed set, yet I'm still excited to see it all on YouTube. I guess it's like hearing a song you like on the radio even though you owned the CD, back in the day.
posted by ignignokt at 6:25 PM on June 8, 2009

Rowan Atkinson's comedy career peaked with Blackadder (series 2 and 3 most of all) and he's never really been able to top that since. I challenge you to prove me wrong.

Exhibit A: Blackadder Goes Forth.
posted by Sys Rq at 6:40 PM on June 8, 2009

Blackadder 2, definitely.

"Edmund: Yes, Percy, I don't want to be pedantic or anything, but the colour
of gold is gold -- that's why it's called gold. What you have discovered, if
it has a name, is some green.

Percy: (stupefied; picks up the green) Oh, Edmund, can it be true? that I
hold here, in my mortal hand, a nugget of purest green?

Edmund: Indeed you do, Percy, except, of course, it's not only a nugget as
it is more of a splat."
posted by HopperFan at 6:56 PM on June 8, 2009 [1 favorite]

The Thin Blue Line was also pretty good, albeit in a much more traditionally sitcom sort of way.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:15 PM on June 8, 2009

Hi, I'm on Metafilter and I'm watching a bunch of Beans.
posted by kldickson at 7:17 PM on June 8, 2009

I liked the movies. Don't judge me!
posted by Lou Stuells at 7:21 PM on June 8, 2009

Mr Bean is huge here in Singapore. There are phone and cable service centres which play Mr Bean on large plasma screens to keep the people in queue entertained. Episodes are broadcast on major holidays. For some reason, Mr Bean is very well-liked here, while most other British comedies are not very appreciated.
posted by Alnedra at 8:29 PM on June 8, 2009

Worth noting that Mr. Bean is also pretty big here in Japan, though nowhere near that extent.
posted by DoctorFedora at 9:05 PM on June 8, 2009

Ouch, so incredibly unfunny. One of the most offensive things in the universe is watching a show that's completely devoid of any hint of real humor and hear the audience laugh. It makes for an almost physical revulsion.. ugh. By the way, I saw a sitcom with him where he was a police chief and it was quite good. He's a decent comical actor it's just that whoever is writing for Mr Bean (both show and movies) is a !@#$ twat.
posted by rainy at 9:31 PM on June 8, 2009

Er, forgot to ask - what is the name of that sitcom?
posted by rainy at 9:31 PM on June 8, 2009

Err, sorry - that'd be the thin blue line as mentioned above.
posted by rainy at 9:33 PM on June 8, 2009

The 'welcome to Hell' sketch by Rowan Atkinson.
posted by nudar at 10:55 PM on June 8, 2009

HopperFan: Percy: (stupefied; picks up the green) Oh, Edmund, can it be true? that I hold here, in my mortal hand, a nugget of purest green?

That's a highlight of all the series right there, but what really makes it work is how Tim McInnerny sells it. The wonder in his voice! I can see why he left the show in order to avoid being typecast as ultra-dope Percy, but damn he was an excellent Percy. He was funnier than Baldrick, and that's saying something.

Of course, if he hadn't left, he couldn't have come back as Lt. Darling, and then we wouldn't have gotten the "cappuchino" scene in the last episode of Blackadder Goes Forth. Or the character's tragic downfall later in the episode. I've already lauded the last episode of BG4 elsewhere on Metafilter, but it really is an awesome way to end the series.
posted by JHarris at 12:27 AM on June 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

Another in the long line of alien-comes-to-Earth-and-tries-to-fit-in deals. Translates because it's basically silent film slapstick Chaplin.
posted by zoinks at 12:41 AM on June 9, 2009

What is it that people find funny about Mr. Bean? Is it that he's an asshole? That he regularly gets his comeuppance? I sincerely want to know because I kind of feel left out; I loved Blackadder so it bugs me that I don't get it.
posted by vanar sena at 3:28 AM on June 9, 2009

zoinks: Another in the long line of alien-comes-to-Earth-and-tries-to-fit-in deals.

eh?

while we're here, here's the Constable Savage sketch (from Not The Nine O Clock News) circa 1980
posted by memebake at 3:34 AM on June 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

vanar sena: What is it that people find funny about Mr. Bean? Is it that he's an asshole? That he regularly gets his comeuppance?

For me, the point was the physical comedy and the faces Rowan pulls. I always saw the character of Mr Bean (being a bit of an asshole) as just a device to set up all the really inventive situations. Never liked the character that much, but it worked as a device to pull everything together.

Perhaps thats why my favorite bits are when he is in 'heroic' mode, e.g. like when Mr Bean is late for his dentist appointment ....
posted by memebake at 3:53 AM on June 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

While we're on NTNOCN, how about some Gerald The Gorilla - which has to be one of my favourites. (Yes, that is Atkinson in the suit.)
posted by pascal at 6:06 AM on June 9, 2009

In spite of being a huge Blackadder fan (and I think the last episode of Blackadder Goes Forth may very well be the high-water mark of television comedy), I have to confess I've never really gotten Mr. Bean. I don't hate it, and I don't go about ridiculing people who do like it -- I just don't get it. It just seems to have more in common with a Roadrunner cartoon than with Harold Lloyd or the Jacques Tati. And Roadrunner cartoons, funny as they are, would be much less so if they didn't come in five-minute bursts.

But, hey -- that's just me.
posted by steambadger at 6:59 AM on June 9, 2009

Metafilter: ...something something something overthink Mr. Bean.
posted by lothar at 8:08 AM on June 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

I don't like Mr. Bean at all, especially since it caused me not to watch Blackadder for far too long. Blackadder is one the best comedy series ever, in my opinion, while Mr. Bean is juvenile, far-overextended slapstick mixed with shameless schadenfreude.
posted by Hargrimm at 8:32 AM on June 9, 2009

Mr. Bean is the voice inside my head telling me how I want to act but can't. Those things that happen to Mr. Bean when he acts accordingly reinforce my restraint. The portrayal of Mr. Bean by Mr. Atkinson is sublime--modern day silent theater of a sort. Yet, as much as I might enjoy watching an episode, I cannot watch more than one every so often and have never been able sit through an entire Mr. Bean movie.
posted by Fezboy! at 8:50 AM on June 9, 2009

What is it that people find funny about Mr. Bean? Is it that he's an asshole? That he regularly gets his comeuppance?

"You know what would cheer you up, and that's a Charlie Chaplin film. Oh, I love old Chappers, don't you, Cap?"

"Unfortunately no, I don't. I find his films about as funny as getting an arrow through the neck, and then discovering there's a gas bill tied to it."
posted by Sys Rq at 10:43 AM on June 9, 2009 [3 favorites]

Lucky me, I have the whole Blackadder series on DVD. The whole cast were great. Miranda Richardson as Queen Elizabeth is a highlight.

I've also enjoyed Mr Bean (the tv shows), but for me Mr Bean loses appeal with repeat viewings. Some of it is almost cringe-inducing, now, for example the turkey schtick in "Merry Christmas, Mr Bean".
posted by Artful Codger at 10:48 AM on June 9, 2009

Well I love Mr. Bean. Nyaah. To my mind Mr. Bean is an innocent, unskilled in dealing with the world. (Hence the "falling to earth" opening; I think it's implied that he's some kind of fallen angel, or an alien.) He's a lot like a child, in both good (ingenious solutions to problems, moments of unexpected empathy) and bad (pettiness, assholeness) ways.

I submit that, if Mr. Bean weren't an asshole sometimes, then we'd be arguing right now about how saccharine the show could be. If Mr. Bean weren't a jerk occasionally, he wouldn't be as interesting a character.
posted by JHarris at 11:14 AM on June 9, 2009

Hargrimm:Mr. Bean is juvenile, far-overextended slapstick mixed with shameless schadenfreude.

You say that like it's a bad thing. I guess there's just no accounting for taste.
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 3:54 PM on June 9, 2009

The movies aren't so bad if you just look at them as several good sketches interspersed with tedious dialog.

In fact, I rather liked the first one. The extended scene of the painting's demise was priceless, and the scene where the damage is first seen by Peter MacNicol was brilliantly played.
posted by schrodycat at 4:33 PM on June 9, 2009